28 June 1999
The criminals have obviously declared war against the South African public. In response our Government formulated the National Crime Prevention Strategy which would serve as a basis for the eradication of the criminal activity which has pervaded practicall y all spheres of life in our country. It is not that Government did not have a plan aimed at ridding our society of this particular scourge.
What is required now is a ruthless implementation of that plan as a matter of urgency. We are ready, more than ever before, not just to send a message to the criminals out there about our intentions, but more importantly to make them feel that "die tyd vir speletjies is nou verby". We are now poised to rise with power and vigour proportional to the enormity and vastness of the aim to be achieved. We dare not disappoint our people in this regard. After all it is their right to walk about the streets of our t owns and cities at any hour of the day without fear of being molested in any way by criminals who must now accept the full consequences of their anti-social behaviour without flinching.
We have a mission to realise and those who raise the dust must not complain that they cannot see.
The unity of the South African Police Service is a critical element in our drive to bring the criminals to their knees. I have already swung into action to ensure that this unity is maximised at all levels. Equally important is the question of raising the levels of discipline and morale within the Service. Corrupt officers are already being dealt with and our resolve is that we are going to continue purging the Service of all the rot that is in collusion with the criminals.
Corruption is also prevalent within other departments belonging to the criminal justice system. It is our collective aim to flush out of the system all the scum as swiftly and mercilessly as possible.
As was indicated in the President's speech to Parliament on Friday a decision has been taken to ensure that the investigation of priority crime must receive better attention. Plans are already underway for the creation of a newly structured capacity for th at purpose. The new structure will focus, within the back-up of highly skilled personnel, effective equipment and adequate resources, on crime intelligence gathering, investigation and the prosecution of persons and groups committing or involved in priorit y crimes. The relevant ministers and their senior structures are already in the process of setting up the new structure. I am confident that this initiative will establish the type of capacity that is necessary to give organised crime, particularly the cri minal elements committing violent and commercial crime, a severe blow. I am also confident that this new structure, once in operation, will allow normal detective structures to deal more effectively with ordinary crime investigation at local level.
An announcement about the new structural arrangement and details about the operational approach that will be followed by all relevant role players, e.g. intelligence, detective and prosecution structures will be made shortly.
The question of visible policing is also uppermost in my mind. From today, clean-up activities in a number of flashpoints that have been identified are underway. These include roadblocks, cordon-off and search operations. These, of course, are not a once-o ff thing. It is going to be a normal routine police activity to give the criminal no quarter. In the process ordinary law-abiding citizens might be inconvenienced and we would like to appeal to them to understand why we are stepping up this kind of action.
We also know, that the criminals might be tempted to target police officers for attack. Once again we would like to remind them that there is already an Act of Parliament which provides the minimum sentence of life imprisonment in the event of a conviction for killing a police officer.
All that is required is a thorough and vigorous investigation and prosecution to ensure that the police murderers are consigned to where they belong - behind bars.
We have also put in place a national multi-disciplinary committee to investigate the increased spate of police killings. Upon completion of their task they will report to me on their findings and at that point we shall decide our way forward.
We have also had a relook at the issue of illegal firearms and their proliferation. Police management had briefed me on the newly designed operational approach which will be followed to restore controls over this common denominator in most of the serious c rimes in our country. I have since requested the National Commissioner to release with immediate effect one of his national deputy commissioners to activate and take control of all operational activities relating to the eradication of illegal firearms. Thi s senior official will ensure that sufficient resources are in place on an ongoing basis so as to focus on availability, movement and circulation of firearms inside the Republic of South Africa as well as in our neighbouring countries. We are working hand in glove with the regional police services. We are also working on a draft bill that will pass through Parliament this year to tighten our controls over this menace.
Also on the cards, is the issued of the transformation of the Service at all levels so that it becomes, in the words of the President, the pride of the nation. In my discussions with the National Commissioner, Mr Meyer Kahn, and the various divisions of th e South African Police Service, I was assured of firm support in this regard. It was acknowledged that representativity must be pursued on an ongoing basis precisely because only a more representative service can be capable of eliminating pressure groups a nd ensuring maximum unity within the ranks of this critical instrument in the safety and security of our country. By the end of this year we shall have attained a 50/50 representativity index in key management areas.
Recruitment is in place. The National Commissioner and I have also agreed that some of the recruits will have to be lateral entrants into top management areas, especially in the Support Services environment. The two of us also agreed that we shall need, pr etty, soon, to upgrade our training institutions at all levels for the production of top class investigators and other specialists. In this regard we shall provide adequate scientific and technical resources and also count on the help of our friends in the continent and abroad.
Lastly, I would like to take this opportunity to thank most profoundly the private sector of our country, in particular Business Against Crime for the assistance they have readily rendered to the police. The degree of success that we have been able to regi ster at this point in time would have just remained an ideal were it not for this patriotic response of this sector of our society. I appreciate in the main the position they have taken that the fight against crime is neither a political instrument to blud geon the governing party not the exclusive responsibility of the state. It is and should remain a collective response, spearheaded, of course, by the South African Police Service and the Community Police Forums.
I must also highlight the critical role the National Commissioner player played to make the creation of this partnership the viable reality it is. He has applied himself selflessly to the safety and security of our people above petty self-centredness and i ndividual pride. Well done National Commissioner. You, Mr Meyer Kahn and Mr Azhar Cachalia have also been diligent and unassuming as you take me through voluminous documents to allow me to find the lie of the land.
We shall win.